Chapter 45: The King and His Subjects Meet Again
Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes, thinking about something in his mind. He suddenly opened his tiger eyes, and the fierceness in his tiger eyes was frightening. Then he said, "Deng Qianqiu tomorrow... Never mind, it's not necessary..."

A trace of surprise flashed across Ye Gaixian's face, as if he didn't know what to do for a moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly looked up and said, "It's getting dark so quickly."

Ye Gai said hurriedly, "Your Majesty has been looking through the account books for an hour and a half. It is now 3:30 pm."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression changed slightly, and he said nonchalantly: "The palace guards have started their night duty now, right?"

"Yes, the shift starts at 15:00."

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a barely audible voice: "In any case, this kid has done something useful, so... let's give him a warning."

You should also prick up your ears first so you can't hear clearly what Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and said, "Please come..."

He paused, then said simply, "Xianliang Temple."

Ye Gaixian's face changed, but at this time, he knew that His Majesty was furious, so how could he dare to say anything nonsense?
This should be because he often accompanies Zhu Yuanzhang and knows Zhu Yuanzhang's temper best. It is obvious that this account book makes His Majesty happy, but also angers Him.

Tomorrow, the Prince of Jin will be summoned to the court, and he will definitely be severely punished. However, the only thing that puzzles him is that this account book seems to be related to Deng Qianqiu, but His Majesty is quite concerned about how to deal with Deng Qianqiu.

Could it be because of... what happened to Queen Ma some time ago?

But the emperor's mind is hard to predict. Even this expert cannot guess your majesty's intentions.

The next moment, Zhu Yuanzhang was patrolling Xianliang Temple at night as usual.

The lights in Xianliang Temple were still on as usual, but because it was already dark, there was almost no one in sight.

Zhu Yuanzhang was strolling and saw a few guards on patrol, but they all looked unfamiliar.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, but continued to pace like a wealthy landlord inspecting his sheep pen.

In the distance, several guards followed quietly.

After a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang finally saw a familiar figure in a corner.

This guy was in an alley, wearing armor all over his body, but he was curled up and sleeping soundly.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he became furious and immediately stepped forward and kicked him.

But the young man was obviously extremely alert. Even when he was sleeping, he suddenly became alert when he heard the slightest movement. He subconsciously jumped up and shouted, "Who is it! How dare you! Do you know where this place is?"

The man had already jumped up, and then began to touch the hilt of the knife at his waist, ready to draw the sword.

However, although he was alert, his skills were much worse. In a hurry, he couldn't even pull out the knife. He had no choice but to lower his head and start fiddling with the knife, muttering to himself: "Damn it, this damn knife doesn't give me face."

Zhu Yuanzhang was still glaring at him, but he raised his head with awareness. When he saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he showed joy: "Oh, it's you, brother. You scared me. I thought... there was a thief..."

Seeing his overjoyed look, Zhu Yuanzhang, although he came here with anger, his expression softened a little at this moment, but he still scolded: "Is this how you do your duty?"

This person is naturally Deng Qianqiu. Deng Qianqiu said with a bitter face: "I have to be busy during the day and on duty at night. I am still young and growing. If I don't get enough sleep, I won't grow tall in the future. If I don't grow tall, I won't be able to marry a wife. If I can't marry a wife, I won't have descendants. I will be ashamed of my father's kindness in raising me... I am a filial son. There are three types of unfilial behavior, and the worst is to have no descendants..."

"Okay, okay, enough, enough." Zhu Yuanzhang had a headache.

Deng Qianqiu said happily: "Brother, why are you here again? Oh, I remember now, you are from the Yiluansi, you are not my superior, right?"

After that, he actually became serious and saluted to Zhu Yuanzhang: "I am Deng Qianqiu, your humble servant..." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand: "You are so slick here, be careful that someone will cut off your tongue."

Deng Qianqiu smiled and said, "Well... I don't have the courage to do that. Brother, I am extraordinary now."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned: "..."

Deng Qianqiu straightened his back and said, "Now I am the one who was given clothes by the Empress. Everyone in the Yiluansi knows about it."

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and said, "Are you arrogant because of your favor?"

Deng Qianqiu said hurriedly: "That's not the case. To be honest, although no one dares to provoke me now, I am still very troubled."

Zhu Yuanzhang had come to call for justice, but he realized that he was being led by the nose by this talkative boy, and subconsciously asked, "What's the trouble?"

Deng Qianqiu had relaxed at this time and said, "Recently, there are always people who want to make friends with me."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be thinking about something, but he said calmly: "Someone wants to make friends with you, but you still refuse?"

Deng Qianqiu shook his head and said, "They don't want to make friends with me. They just like the dress that the Queen gave me to wear. Besides, why should I be friends with them?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Yes, it has always been the case that forming a clique is bound to be selfish. Those who are always willing to be kind to others and get close to others are mostly extremely treacherous and evil."

Deng Qianqiu said, "But I am only a small centurion. If I make friends with them, I will be reluctant. But if I treat them coldly, I will inevitably offend them. If it is disadvantageous to me, I don't care. But I pity my father. He has no relatives in this world."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the word "my father", his eyes were clearly shaken. He said calmly: "I didn't expect that you are so filial."

Deng Qianqiu said: "Of course, I am a well-known filial son."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and did not comment.

"Why, you don't believe it?" Deng Qianqiu said with his eyes wide open: "If you don't believe it, go ask my father..."

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him and said, "Okay, stop talking nonsense here. I tell you the truth, your disaster is about to happen."

Deng Qianqiu was just as Zhu Yuanzhang expected when he heard this. He immediately became nervous: "What...what trouble...I didn't cause any trouble. I'm a good citizen..."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him with a half-smile, as if he thought he should give him a stern warning at this time, so his face began to become gloomy and scary, he said coldly: "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself. Do you think no one knows about what you did? You colluded with the King of Jin, robbed and plundered merchants, these things have been spread privately."

Deng Qianqiu was stunned, and subconsciously said: "What, King Jin... King Jin... really went to rob... I thought he was a good person..."

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "One hundred and seventy coins of mint, you buy it for fifty coins, and then resell it to others for one hundred and twenty coins. If this is not robbery, what is it? How is this behavior different from the unscrupulous merchants who colluded with the government at the end of the Yuan Dynasty?"

"So that's what it is." Deng Qianqiu's expression suddenly recovered, and he shouted, "This is normal, what's the problem?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he was fuming. Of course, he hated those who robbed people, but what he hated even more was those who were self-righteous after robbing people.

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "This is looting!"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry, Deng Qianqiu was not afraid, but said: "Brother, don't be angry first, I know you come to ask me this for my own good. But I have a question, you said this was robbery, then dare to ask... why didn't anyone cry out for justice for those merchants who were robbed?"

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little stunned.

(End of this chapter)